Freeview Light on the Whitehead (Northern Ireland) transmitter
 | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 54.763,-5.708 or 54°45'47"N 5°42'29"W |  | BT38 9NX |
The symbol shows the location of the Whitehead (Northern Ireland) transmitter which serves 1,600 homes. The bright green areas shown where the signal from this transmitter is strong, dark green areas are poorer signals. Those parts shown in yellow may have interference on the same frequency from other masts.
This transmitter has no current reported problems
The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Whitehead (Northern Ireland) transmitter._______
Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Whitehead (Northern Ireland) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which Freeview channels does the Whitehead transmitter broadcast?
If you have any kind of Freeview fault, follow this Freeview reset procedure first.Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
| Mux | H/V | Frequency | Height | Mode | Watts |
| PSB1 BBCA | V max | C39 (618.0MHz) | 76m | DTG- | 2W |
 1 BBC One (SD) Northern Ireland, 2 BBC Two Northern Ireland, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 14 others | |||||
| PSB2 D3+4 | V max | C42 (642.0MHz) | 76m | DTG- | 2W |
 3 UTV (SD) (UTV), 4 Channel 4 (SD) NI ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 NI ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 UTV +1 (UTV), 71 That’s 60s, | |||||
| PSB3 BBCB | V max | C45 (666.0MHz) | 76m | DTG- | 2W |
 46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Northern Ireland, 102 BBC Two HD Northern Ireland, 103 UTV HD (UTV), 104 Channel 4 HD NI ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others | |||||
| NIMM | V max | C48 (690.0MHz) | 76m | DTG- | 2W |
 from 4th September 2019: 53 TG4, 54 RTÉ One, 55 RTÉ Two, | |||||
The Whitehead (Northern Ireland) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Whitehead transmitter?
BBC Newsline 0.6m homes 2.5%
from Belfast BT2 8HQ, 1,044km northeast (51°)
to BBC Northern Ireland region - 46 masts.
How will the Whitehead (Northern Ireland) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 4 Sep 2019 | |||||
| C/D E | C/D E | C/D E | C/D E T | B E K T | |||||
| C39 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C42 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C45 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C48 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | NIMM | NIMM | ||||
| C51tv_off | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C52tv_off | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | |||||
| C56tv_off | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCB | |||||
| C67 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves |
tv_off Being removed from Freeview (for 5G use) after November 2020 / June 2022 - more
Table shows multiplexes names see this article;
green background for transmission frequencies
Notes: + and - denote 166kHz offset; aerial group are shown as A B C/D E K W T
waves denotes analogue; digital switchover was 10 Oct 12 and 24 Oct 12.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 12W | |
| NIMM, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 2.4W |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Divis transmitter area
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Tuesday, 23 October 2012
At switchover the Whitehead transmitter will be off
air from midnight until 11am on 24th October 2012 - see UK Digital switchover ends - Northern Ireland completes on 24th October 2012 | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice for full details.
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Thursday, 25 October 2012
G
Glynn12:03 PM
The coverage area in green as indicated on the map seems to have a section of Whitehead (south east near the railway station) which is not included. I tried to get a reciption via a digital box on 24/10 evening but the signal is very weak resulting in a partially scrambled picture. My postcode is BT38 9PX. Why is the signal so weak here if the transmitter is so close.
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Glynn: You are at the side of the transmitter that it is radiating the signal (it isn't omnidirectional), but at only 2W you will almost certainly require line-of-sight to the broadcasting antennas on the transmitter's pole:
mb21 - The Transmission Gallery
I don't know the local area but I imagine that it is weaker (and is predicted as being so on the map) because the terrain is lower which means that the transmitter cannot be seen at the sort of height above ground at which aerials are usually installed.
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Sunday, 2 December 2012
Do you know of any plans for the COM6 channels to be available in the Whitehead area? On the switchover day Film 4 and ITV4 were available but I have not picked them up since and they only seem to be listed for the main Divis transmitter.
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Monday, 3 December 2012
Chris: It is those who receive from the Whitehead relay transmitter who will never receive any of the COM channels. See here for an explanation:
Londonderry transmitter | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice
If you received one of the COMs momentarily, presumably from Divis, with your aerial vertical whereas Divis is horizontally polarised, then maybe this might be an indication that an aerial on Divis will bring in all channels. Then again, it may be intermittant. You will be best advised to consult an installer. Also, look around to see if others have new Divis aerials.
If you are looking at DIYing it, then a Group A aerial (if it's a yagi type) will be best; don't get a wideband yagi as these aren't as effective on the channels used by Divis:
Digital TV Transmitters
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